Stephanie Pollard

It is with great sadness that I have to inform you of the death of my dear friend Stephanie Pollard (née Farr), following nine years of living with incurable breast cancer.

Steph studied modern languages (French and German) at Queens’, where I first met her.  We were both in the same year and involved with BATS.  Steph produced a number of plays both for BATS and Footlights, including a memorable May Week production of Measure for Measure in Cloister Court which involved us all getting to grips with scaffolding.

Steph was a very able linguist, but also enjoyed playing hockey and football for Queens’. She and I didn’t become close friends till our 4^th year (1991-2), when she got back from Innsbruck, by which time she had met her future husband Justin Pollard (Downing 1986-89).  They were married in Queens’s chapel in November 2000.

After Queens’ she had a career in TV research receiving a BAFTA nomination in 1999 before founding the production company Visual Artefact  with Justin where she worked on films and TV series including The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Mary Poppins Returns, Elizabeth: The Golden Age and Peaky Blinders.

Steph was always friendly, chatty, highly organized and practical, even in her last weeks, during which she exuded a real sense of grace.  She was a creative crafter, a loyal friend, and an exemplary mother to Constance and Felicity (Coco and Fliss) and will be greatly missed.

Shani Lee (née Jamieson), with thanks to Tory Heazell, Karen Harman & Sarah Watkins (née Crockford)